


DU 620 
.6 
.T7 
1843 
Copy 1 






REFUTATION Of THE CHAR 



EF.JLGHT ET THi 



ROMAN CATHOLICS 






^.aiusisUiia siassi^iia'iii^i; 



SANDWICH ISLANDS 



:? 



*: 



r 



^ 



REFUTATION OF THE CHARGES 



BROUGHT BY THE 



ROMAN CATHOLICS 



AGAINST THE 



AMERICAN MISSIONARIES 



AT THE 



SANDWICH ISLANDS. 

Tr x t •/ '■ ■ ^ 



BOSTON: 

PRESS OF T. R. MARVIN, 24 CONGRESS STREET. 
18 4 3. 



^ 



^ w 






AK' 






REFUTATION, kc 



[The following article was written by the author of the " History of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions," and shows how 
utterly destitute of truth and evidence are the charges brought by Roman 
Catholic missionaries and their partisans against the American missionaries 
at the Sandwich Islands.] 

The Missionaries accused, and condemned without investigation. 

The outrage committed at the Sandwich Islands in July, 1839, by Capt. 
Laplace, of the French frigate l'Artemise, is doubtless known and remem- 
bered throughout the Christian world. On his arrival at Honolulu, July 9, 
he issued a manifesto, in which he declared that " to persecute the Catholic 
religion, to tarnish it with the name of idolatry, and to expel, under this ab- 
surd pretext, the French from this [the Sandwich Islands] Archipelago, 
was to offer an insult to France and^o its sovereign." The same day, he 
addressed a note to the American Cessul, in which he offered protection 
on board his frigate, during the threatened hostilities, to all American citi- 
zens, except " the individuals who, although born, it is said, in the United 
States, make a part of the Protestant clergy of the chief of this Archipela- 
go, direct his counsels, influence his conduct, and are the true authors of 
the insults given by him to France. For me," he added, " they compose a 
part of the native population, and must undergo the unhappy consequences 
of a war which they shall have brought on this country." This certainly 
means, that the American missionaries at the Sandwich Islands, or at least 
the clerical members of the mission, had advised and induced the govern- 
ment to persecute the Roman Catholics, and that for this offence, they 
must suffer "all the unhappy consequences of a war," which he was threat- 
ening to commence. Neither their sacred office, nor their American citi- 
zenship, was to be regarded. No intimation was given, that any member 
of the mission, or any missionary's wife or child, could be allowed to es- 
cape the " unhappy consequences" of a bombardment. And yet there had 
been no investigation, for the purpose of ascertaining whether this accusa- 
tion against the missionaries was true or false ; or if true, whether all or 
only some of them were guilty. 

These proceedings are open to many very grave objections, which it will 
not be easy to remove ; but which must be removed, or the whole transac- 
tion must be regarded as infamous, and must cover all who are responsible 
for it with lasting disgrace. It is our present purpose, however, to consider 
only one of them ; to examine the question, which Capt. Laplace, or who- 
ever is responsible for his conduct, was bound to investigate before pro- 
nouncing sentence. We propose to inquire whether his charge against the 
American missionaries is true. 



4 

The King's Testimony. 

Happily, official documents come to our aid. The United States' Con- 
sul at Honolulu could not neglect to examine the truth of a charge which 
had been made the pretext for denying to so many of his fellow citizens 
the rights of their citizenship. Soon after the departure of the frigate, 
therefore, the following correspondence took place. 

[The United States' Consul to the King.] 
United States' Consulate, Sandwich Islands, Oct. 26, 1839. 
Sir : — As the opinion seems to be to some extent entertained, that American 
citizens residing in the Sandwich Islands as missionaries under the patronage 
of an incorporated institution of the United States, have exerted a controlling in- 
fluence upon the framers of the laws of this country, I have very respectfully to 
inquire, if they have ever had any voice in the passage of laws affecting the in- 
terests of other foreigners; and particularly whether they have ever had any thing 
to do in the measures adopted by your government, for the prevention of the in- 
troduction of the Catholic religion into the country; and whether, in the treat- 
ment which has been shown to any subject of the government of France, they 
have directly or indirectly recommended the course pursued by your government ; 
and also, whether, in the attempts made under your authority to suppress the pub- 
lic exercise of the Roman Catholic religion on the part of your own subjects, they 
have countenanced those attempts. If they have in any of these respects con- 
trolled the action of your government, will you be pleased to inform me, very ex- 
plicitly, in what manner and to what extent. An early reply will be a favor. 
With the highest considerations, I have the honor to be, 

Your Majesty's most obedient servant, 

P. A. Brinsmade, United States' Consul. 

[The King to the United States' Consul.] 
Kauwila House, present residence of the king of Hawaii, Oct. 28, 1839. 
My respects to you, the American Consul: 

I have received your letter, asking questions respecting the American mis- 
sionaries, supposed by some to regulate the acts of my government under me. I, 
together with the chiefs under me, now clearly declare to you, that we do not see 
any thing in which your questions are applicable to the American missionaries. 
From the time the missionaries first arrived, they have asked liberty to dwell in 
these islands. Communicating instruction in letters, and delivering the word of 
God, has been their business. 

They were hesitatingly permitted to remain by the chiefs of that time, because 
they were said to be about to take away the country. We exercised forbearance, 
however, and protected all the missionaries; and as they frequently arrived in this 
country, we permitted them to remain in this kingdom, because they asked it; 
and when we saw the excellence of their labors, then some of the chiefs and 
people turned to them in order to be instructed in letters, for those things were in 
our opinion really true. 

When the priests of the Romish religion landed at these islands, they did not 
first make known to us their desire to dwell on the Islands, and also their business. 
There was not a clear understanding with this company of priests, as there was 
with that; because they landed in the country secretly, without Kaahumanu's 
hearing any thing about their remaining here. 

When the number of the followers of the Romish religion became considerable, 
certain captains of whaleships told Kaahumanu of the evil of this way ; and thus 

Capt. D. 1 informed me of a great destruction in Britain in ancient time, and 

that his ancestors died in that slaughter, and he thought a like work would 
soon be done here. That was the company who informed us of the evil of the 
Romish religion ; and also a certain French man of war, and a certain British man 
of war, approved of what we did. 

Inasmuch as ldo not know of the American missionaries having had any thing 
to do in my business with my chiefs, I have therefore inquired of them, the chiefs, 
and they say, no, in the same manner as 1 now say no to you. 



k 



5 

Some of them, however, have told me of having known certain things done by 
certain missionaries, viz. : what Mr. Bingham ?aid to Kaahumanu : " 1 have seen 
some people made to serve at hard labor on account of their having worshipped ac- 
cording to the Romish religion. Whose thought is that?" Kaahumanu said to 
him, " Mine." Then he that spake to her objected quickly, saying, " It is not 
proper tor you to do thus, for you have no law that will apply." When he said 
that, then Kaahumanu immediately replied to him with great strength, " The law 
respecting idolatry ; for their worship is like that which we have forsaken." Mr. 
Clark also, and Mr. Chamberlain spoke to Kinau, while Kaahumanu was yet alive, 
and objected to said conduct: and afterwards, Dr. J udd. And at a certain time 
Mr. Bingham and Mr. Bishop disputed strongly with Kinau, on account of the 
wrong of punishing those of the Romish religion. 

And now, in Kekauluohi's time, Mr. Richards disputed strongly with Kekuanoa, 
urging the entire abolition of that thing, and that kindness should be bestowed on 
them, that they might be pleased, giving them also an instructor to teach them the 
right way ; and thus also he said to Kekauluohi and to me. 

And afterwards, when Mr. Bingham heard by Mr. Hooper that certain women 
were confined in irons at the fort, he went immediately and made known to Ke- 
kuanoa the wickedness of their confinement for that thing ; and when Kekuanoa 
heard it, he immediately sent a man, and afterwards went himself to the fort, to 
set the prisoners free ; for their confinement was not by order of the chiefs. 

Should it be said by accusers, that the American missionaries are the authors of 
one law of the kingdom, the law respecting the sale of rum, or if not, that they 
have urged it strongly, I would say, a number of captains of whale ships com- 
menced that thing; thousands of my own people supported them ; and when my 
chiefs saw that it was a good thing, they requested me to do according to the pe- 
tition of that company ; and when I saw that it was really an excellent thing, then 
I chose that as a rule of my kingdom. 

But that thing which you speak to me of, that they act with us, or overrule our 
acts, we deny it, it is not so. 

We think that perhaps these are their real crimes : — Their teaching us knowl- 
edge ; their living with us, and sometimes translating between us and foreigners ; 
their not taking the sword into their hand, and saying to us with power, stop, pun- 
ish not the worshippers in the Romish religion. 

But to stand at variance with, and to confine that company, they have never 
spoken like that, since the time of Kaahumanu I., down to the time that the Ro- 
mish priest was confined on board the Europa. 

I think, perhaps these things are not. clear to you. It would perhaps be proper, 
therefore, that the American missionaries should be examined before you and 
Commodore Read, and us also. 

Thus I have written you, with respect, 

(Signed) Kamehameha III. 

The King's Testimony sufficient. 
This is conclusive. It is matter of record, after an .investigation. The 
king speaks not only of what was within his own personal knowledge, but 
what he had learned hy an inquiry instituted for the very purpose of ascer- 
taining the whole truth. It is an official communication from the supreme 
Executive of one nation, to the authorized representative of another. It is 
a document of the same kind as would be a communication from the Queen 
of England, with her royal signature, to the American minister at London, 
informing him, in answer to his inquiries, that the steamboat Caroline was 
destroyed by order of her government in Upper Canada; or that the men who 
lately seized Col.Grogan, in Alburgh, acted without authority from her gov- 
ernment. Such testimony would put an end to all questioning as to the 
facts to which it relates, in any court of justice. There is no way of escap- 
ing from it in the case before us, but by giving his Hawaiian Majesty the 
lie direct, and that in respect to his most solemn official documents. Nor 
is escape from it attempted in any other way. A writer at the Sandwich 
Islands pronounces his assertions "too absurd and inconsistent, for a mo- 
ment to be admitted, even by the most credulous ;" and a Boston writer 
concludes that " he was easily influenced by fear or policy to say and un- 

1* 






say, to promise and to break his promise, according to the foreign naval 
power 1 . ing at any time in his ports." 

This uncourteous language is important on two accounts. In the first 
place, it precludes all dispute as to the interpretation of the king's letter. 
His defamers understand it to be a direct and explicit contradiction of their 
charges against the missionaries. And in the second place, it is an aban- 
donment of the attempt to use the king as a witness against the missiona- 
ries. If the king is a man of truth, the charge against the missionaries is 
false. If he is such a liar as they now call him, a man who will "say and 
unsay" as " fear or policy" may dictate, and that even in his official com- 
munications with foreign nations, his testimony is worthless, and would 
prove nothing against the missionaries, even if it asserted their guilt. 

The Accusers can produce no other icitness. 

How stands the case of the accusers now ? By what testimony will they 
prove the truth of their charge? Formerly, they mentioned the king, as a 
witness in their favor. He comes forward and testifies that their accusa- 
tion is false, and they impeach his credibility. What other witness will 
they introduce ? Who heard the missionaries advise the government to 
persecute the Roman Catholics, or to expel the Romish priests ? Their en- 
emies assert that all this was done by their instigation. Capt. Laplace as- 
serts it ; but he was in some distant part of the earth when it was done, if 
done at all. The Romish priests assert it ; but they do not even pretend to 
have been present, when such advice was given. Some of the foreign res- 
idents at the islands assert it ; but they never tell us how they came by 
their knowledge. In short, no witness appears, or is named, who even pro- 
fesses to speak from his own personal acquaintance with the facts. It is all 
mere hearsay and guess-work. 

The Missionaries therefore entitled to an Acquittal. 

This state of the case deserves special consideration. The missionaries 
are charged with an offence, pronounced guilty, and threatened with all 
the " unhappy consequences of a war." The accusers name but one wit- 
ness who can speak from his personal knowledge of the facts ; and that wit- 
ness testifies, in the most solemn manner, that the accusation is false. All 
others who have asserted that the missionaries are guilty, are persons who 
speak from hearsay, or who merely state their own inferences and conjec- 
tures ; and of course not one of them could be admitted to testify at all in 
any court of justice. On this ground, again, the accused are entitled to an 
entire acquittal, and would receive it, before any court in the civilized 
world. Without a better show of evidence, no grand jury would bring in 
a bill against them, and no prosecuting officer, who had any regard for his 
character, would attempt to bring them to trial. 

In this state of things, the missionaries are entitled to an acquittal by the 
public sentiment of Christendom. They have a right to demand, that the 
charges against them be abandoned, and that the attempt to injure their 
reputation, limit their influence, and even to endanger their lives, by assert- 
ing their guilt, be discontinued. This is their right; an important right; 
and to withhold it, is gross injustice. It is strange that writers can be found, 
acquainted with these facts, and yet willing to repeat the story, as if it were 
true. What hope can they have of being believed ? True, by sending 
their publications among the uninformed, they may gain temporary believ- 
ers ; but do they not know that the truth must follow them, and convict 
them of falsehood ? And can the pleasure or profit which may be secured 
by inflicting a temporary injury upon the missionaries, be thought sufficient 
to balance the lasting disgrace of ultimate detection ? 



Evil surmisings, and means of refuting them. 

We can think of but one consideration, by which the enemies of the mis- 
sion can be emboldened to reiterate this charge. Many will say, that there 
must be some reason for the persecution of the Catholics ; and as no other 
reason appears to have existed, we must of course ascribe it to the influ- 
ence of their opponents, the Protestant missionaries. On this ground, the 
enemies of the mission doubtless expect that many will believe their asser- 
tions, without proof. It may be well, therefore, to inform the public, more 
fully than has ever yet been done, what motive induced the Hawaiian gov- 
ern tnent to banish the Romish priests and punish their adherents. This will 
remove from all minds that are willing to think justly, all apparent necessity 
for supposing that the American missionaries advised persecution. It will 
have the further advantage of throwing light on the character of the oppo- 
sition which the American mission has encountered in its field of labor. Our 
materials are abundaut ; much more abundant and much more perfect than 
the defamers of the mission have ever suspected, or they would have been 
more careful in their statements. Besides the Missionary Herald, the An- 
nual Reports of the American Board, and several other publications eman- 
ating more or less directly from the mission, there is a mass of unpublished 
documents preserved in the archives of the Board, containing much curious 
information on this subject. We have also the Roman Catholic side of the 
question, from two sources. First, we have the Annals of the Propagation 
of the Faith, published at Lyons, in France, and containing the accounts 
transmitted by the Romish priests to their employers ;* and secondly, we 
have a pamphlet of 100 pages, published at Honolulu in 1840, as a supple- 
ment to the Sandwich Islands Mirror. The reputed author of the pamph- 
let is Mr. John C. Jones, who had previously been American Cousul at 
Honolulu. The Rev. Robert Walsh, a Romish priest, is supposed by some 
to have assisted him ; but of this we know not that there is any proof. It 
is unfortunate for the cause of the Romanists, that these two witnesses ap- 
pear in their behalf; for they often and seriously contradict each other, and 
between them, the truth sometimes comes out, much to the disadvantage of 
their cause. 

To make the matter perfectly intelligible, it is necessary to examine the 
history of the Sandwich Islands somewhat minutely. 

The old idolatry. Its suppression. Civil tear in its defence. 

When these Islands were first discovered by Capt. Cook, in 1778, the in- 
habitants were idolaters, as their ancestors had been from time immemo- 
rial. They worshipped images, addressing their prayers to them, and of- 
fering them sacrifices of vegetable food, animals, and men. Human victims 
were esteemed the most powerful in prevailing with the go.ls, and were 
offered by the chiefs, on important occasions, and when other gifts failed to 
procure the desired boon. It belonged to the priests to tell when a human 
sacrifice was necessary, and usually to designate the victim. No man, 
therefore, could displease a priest, but at the risk of his life. Besides these 
idols, they also worshipped the shark, the great volcano, and the bones of 
distinguished chiefs, which were preserved for that purpose. A part of the 
bones of Capt. Cook were kept by the priests, to be worshipped. Another 
part of their religion was the tabu system. These tabus forbade women to 
eat with men, or to taste several of the best kinds of meat, fish, ami vegeta- 
ble food. They forbade any but consecrated persons to enter consecrated 

* The original French edition of the Annals should be used ; as, in the English 
edition, which may be expected to fall more frequently into the hands of Protei- 
tants, some instances of duplicity are less fully related. 



8 

places. Occasional tabus were issued from time to time, forbidding all per- 
sons to eat certain kinds of food, or engage in certain sports or employ- 
ments. Every violation of the tabu was punishable with death ; and in 
case of transgression by the highest chiefs, it was firmly believed that the 
gods would inflict that punishment by miracle. Polygamy, infanticide, and 
almost every vice prevailed without restraint. 

It is said that American merchants have resided there ever since 1786, 
eight years after their discovery by Capt. Cook. Vancouver visited the 
Islands in 1792, and again in 1793 and 1794. He introduced cattle from 
California, built a ship for Kamehameha, who was then king of the Islands, 
and told the people that, at some future time, men would come to instruct 
them. This promise they remembered, and expected its fulfilment. 

Kamehameha died May 8, 1819. Before his death, he made some solic- 
itous inquiries concerning the God and religion of the Christians, but could 
find no one to teach him. Under his son and successor, Liholiho, the abo- 
lition of the tabu system was discussed by the chiefs. Keopuolani, the 
king's mother, is said to have first tried the experiment of eating with her 
little son, who is probably the present king. At length the question was 
decided in the affirmative ; and one day in November, at dinner, the king, 
having ordered a pig to be carved, took it, went to the women's table, sat 
down between two of his wives, and ate it with them. The people ex- 
claimed that the tabu was broken. The king rose and declared the system 
abolished, and ordered the idols and their temples to be destroyed, which 
was immediately done. The practice of the rites of the old religion was 
forbidden by law throughout the realm. We must particularly request the 
reader to remember the enactment of this law, and its date, which was No- 
vember, 1819 — nearly five months before the first American missionaries 
arrived. The reasons for this request will appear in due season. 

The motives which led to the abolition of idolatry are not fully known. 
Several causes, however, contributed their influence to promote it. One 
was. intercourse with foreigners, and especially seeing them disregard the 
tabus with impunity. This led them to doubt the ability of their gods to 
punish transgressors. Another was the revolution going on in the Islands 
of the South Pacific, where the missionaries of the London Missionary So- 
ciety were at last reaping a rich harvest of conversions. There the tabus 
were disregarded, the gods were sawed in pieces and burned, or sent to 
London as curiosities, human sacrifices and infanticide were abolished, and 
the people were fast coming into the enjoyment of the blessings of Chris 
tianity, good morals and civilization. These things were much talked of 
at the Sandwich Islands. Besides all this, several of the natives were re- 
ceiving a Christian education in the United States. Three were taken un- 
der the patronage of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions, in September, 1815 ; and two years afterwards, there were seven 
of them at the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall, Connecticut. One of 
them, whose name many of our readers will remember, was George Kau- 
muiili, (usually called Tamoree in this country,) a son of the governor, or 
tributary king, of the island of Kauai, who was one of the most influential 
chiefs. While at Cornwall, George, though not considered pious, as sev- 
eral of the others were, wrote his father a very excellent letter on the folly 
of idolatry, and the superiority of the Christian religion. George had been 
sent here by his father for an education. The others had come as sailors, 
in various ships. Probably the influence of women on this question was 
considerable. The tabus bore hard upon them, and several of them had, 
at that time, great influence in the nation. 

Some of the priests were zealous for the abolition of idolatry. Others of 
them were equally zealous to maintain it. These last promised to place a 
certain chief upon the throne, if he would restore the old religion — the wor- 
ship- of images and dead men's bones, and the observance of tabus. He 



raised the standard of civil war, but was soon defeated in a decisive battle, 
and his party dispersed. 

The recollection of this war in defence of idolatry exerted an important 
influence, and the reader will need to remember it, and its date. 

Arrival of the Protestant Missionaries. Roman Catholic attempt to 

expel them. 

Meanwhile, the first Protestant missionaries to the Sandwich Islands 
were already on their way. They sailed from Boston, October 23, 1819, — 
the month preceding the abolition of idolatry. They arrived at Kailua, on 
Hawaii, where the king then was, March 30, 1820, after the conclusion of 
the civil war in defence of idolatry. They had with them George Kaumu- 
ali, and three other educated natives, who were believed to be pious, though 
one of them soon apostatized. They explained their object, and requested 
permission to land and reside on the Islands. Some of the foreign resi- 
dents at once perceived, that if these men were allowed to commence their 
mission, and should be successful in it, a great change would be wrought ; 
the natives would become intelligent, and would no longer sell a pig, or a 
barrel of potatoes, for three inches of an old iron hoop; it would become 
less easy to manage the chiefs by getting them drunk ; and a public senti- 
ment would be created, which would impose some restraint upon licen- 
tiousness. They therefore did what they could to prevent their landing ; 
but after deliberating a fortnight, the government gave them leave to stay 
a year, by way of trial. Some of the foreign residents were friendly, and 
rendered them valuable aid. Others became their open enemies, — espe- 
cially "Mr. John Rives," a Frenchman, who threatened that they should 
be expelled from the Islands at the termination of their year. In view of 
what occurred afterwards, it is a curious circumstance that Rives was the 
instigator of the first plan of expelling the missionaries from the Sandwich 
Islands. His plan was defeated. Before the end of the year, the govern- 
ment became unwilling to part with the missionaries, and even desirous 
that their number should be increased. 

Origin of the Roman Catholic mission. 

The origin and early history of the Roman Catholic mission may be best 
given in the words of the pamphlet published at Honolulu, interspersed 
with such remarks and additional statements as truth requires. It says : — 

" In order to show more clearly the cause which first led to the introduction of 
the Catholic religion into the Hawaiian archipelago, it will be necessary to go back 
in the history of these isles to the year 1819, at which period Liholiho (Kameha- 
meha II.) was king, Kalaimoku, (William Pitt, as he was called,) prime minister, 
and Boki, (his brother,) governor of Oahu." 

This statement, as many will naturally understand it, is deceptive. It 
makes the impression, that Boki was the third ruler in the kingdom ; where- 
as his rank was not higher than that of Kiarnoku (Governor Cox), of Maui, 
or Kaumuali of Kauai, or Kuakini (Governor Adams), of Hawaii, or Na- 
ihe, hereditary chief counsellor of state, or Hoapili, the highest male chief 
in blood, except the king. Indeed, several, if not all, of these chiefs, were 
his superiors in rank and influence. The error, as will soon be seen, is not 
unimportant. To proceed: 

'« In August of that year, the French corvette, TUranie, M. Freycinet, comman- 
der, visited these islands, and remained several days at Oahu ; during which peri- 
od, Kalaimoku, in consequence of his intercourse on board, became very solicitous 
to receive baptism, the riles of which were soon after conferred on board the Uranie, 
with the approbation of the Commander, (who officiated as sponsor.) by the Rev. 
Chaplain, M. 1'Abbe de Quelin, cousin of the archbishop of Paris. Governor Boki, 



10 

following the example of his brother, in a few days succeeding made intercession 
for the reception of similar rites, and was in consequence baptized, receiving the 
name of Paul, by the same venerable divine." 

The celebrated M. Arago, in his letters on Freycinet's voyage, describes 
this baptism as a ludicrous affair, and subjoins the remark, that " after ex- 
changing presents with M. Freycinet, the minister Pitt took his leave, and 
went home to his seven wives, and to sacrifice to his idols." There is no 
reason to doubt that both he and Boki continued to practise their old idola- 
try, till it was abolished the next November. 

The pamphlet then mentions the departure of the king and his suite, in- 
cluding " Mr. John Rives, a French gentleman," for England, in the autumn 
of 1823, the death of the king and queen in London, and the appointment 
of Boki as his representative in England, and as guardian, in conjunction 
with Kalaimoku, of his younger brother, the present king. It omits to 
mention some important facts, which we must supply. The King, before 
he embarked for England, appointed Kalaimoku, the prime minister, and 
Kaahumanu, who had been the favorite wife of his father, regents of the 
realm during his absence, and during the minority of his brother, if he 
should not return. As such they were always recognized by the other 
chiefs, and by the people. Boki's office has been called by different names, 
as guardian, tutor, and steward. The present king, in a letter written to 
the king of England in 1837, says that Boki was his steward, and had the 
oversight of the royal household. Of course he was subordinate to the re- 
gents; as the present tutor of Isabella, the infant queen of Spain, is subor- 
dinate to Espartero, the regent of the realm. 

Meanwhile, important events were occurring at the Islands. Kaumuali, 
the tributary king of Kauai, died in May, 1824, — about the time of Liho- 
liho's arrival in England. He bequeathed his island to the regents, in trust 
for the king. Kalaimoku repaired to Kauai, to receive the submission of 
the chiefs. But though the practice of idolatry had baen suppressed, there 
was still a party there who were its secret friends. They persuaded George 
Kaumuali to set up for independence as king of that island. At their head 
he attacked the fort, soon after the regent entered it ; but was repulsed, and 
in a few days afterwards defeated in a decisive battle. This insurrection 
of the image worshippers was the only war that had arisen among them 
since the suppression of idolatry, and the battle which followed it. 

Mr. Rives we are told, obtained leave of Boki to visit his relatives in 
France : — 

" But before his departure, the governor, not forgetful of the religion he had 
embraced, empowered him to engage, if practicable, a certain number of priests of 
the Catholic faith, to proceed to Hawaii as missionaries. He made anplication to 
the college of Picpus, in Paris, for priests to be sent to the Sandwich Islands, 
which, after some delay, was favorably received, and in July, 1826, the Rev. John 
Alexius Augustine Kachelot, member of that institution, was constituted Apostolic 
Prefect of the Sandwich Islands, by His Holiness Pope Leo XII. On the 17th of 
November following, in company with two other Catholic clergymen, Messrs. 
Armand, (a Frenchman,) and Short, (a subject of Great Britain,) together with 
four laymen, he sailed from Bordeaux, in the French ship Comet, Capt. Plassad, 
and arrived at Honolulu, (Oahu,) on the 7th of July, A. D. 1827." 

That Rives went to France and engaged Roman Catholic missionaries, 
is very true ; but that he was authorized by Boki to do it, is a new story, 
first published, so far as we know, in this pamphlet, ten years after Boki's 
death, and inconsistent with well known facts. In the "Annals of the 
Propagation of the Faith," where it certainly would appear if any apology 
could be found for inserting it, no such pretence is set up, either by the ed- 
itors or by the priests. The facts are, lhat while in France, Rives preten- 
ded to possess immense wealth and unbounded influence at the Sandwich 
Islands, where, he said, he had large plantations. He not only engaged his 



11 

priests and promised to pay for their passage, but purchased pictures aud 
other ornaments for their church, and a large amount of other goods, for all 
of which he was to pay a high price on their delivery at the Islands. 

The Regency settled. 

Boki returned from England in the British frigate Blonde, Capt. Lord 
Byron, which was sent to convey the bodies of the king and queen. While 
at the islands, Lord Byron acted as an authorized representative of the king 
of England, on whom the kings of the Sandwich Islands have acknowl- 
edged some indefinite kind of dependence, ever since the days of Vancou- 
ver. A great council of the nation was held on the 6th of June, 1825, at 
which the young king's title was acknowledged, and Kalaimoku and Kaa- 
humanu were formally recognised and confirmed as regents during his mi- 
nority, by the assembled chiefs, in the presence of Lord Byron, his Britan- 
nic Majesty's representative. This the pamphlet before us conveniently 
omits. Boki told the people, that while in England, he asked the king of 
that country concerning the American missionaries, and that the king 
charged the islanders, as they valued his friendship, to give heed to their 
instructions. This advice Boki endeavored to enforce, by avowing his own 
solemn conviction of its importance. 

In January, 1627, before the arrival of the Romish missionaries, Kala- 
imoku, " the iron cable of the country," as the natives call him, died in the 
triumphs of Christian faith, leaving Kaahumanu sole regent. As her title 
to that office is a point of very great importance, we must spend a moment 
in considering it. 

She was appointed regent, jointly with Kalaimoku, by Liholiho, before 
embarking for England. That appointment was acknowledged and con- 
firmed, by the assembled chiefs, in presence and with the approbation of 
Lord Byron, when there as commander of the Blonde, and representative 
of the British government. In 1629, her title was formally acknowledged 
by the President of the United States, who sent her presents. They wpre 
conveyed by the U. S. ship Yincennes, Capt. Finch, which was sent to 
make reparation for outrages in which Americans had been concerned. 
Capt. Fiuch, on his formal presentation at court, was introduced to her as 
regent by Mr. Jones, then American Consul at Honolulu. Capt. Finch 
addressed her as regent, in the letters which passed between them during 
his visit. In the public documents issued white Capt. Finch was there, her 
name appears as regent, in connection with the names of the king, of Boki, 
of Kuakini, of Hoapili, and ofNaihe, all of whom thus acknowledged her 
title. The only other male chief of equal rank with even the lowest of these, 
was Kaikioewa, governor of Kauai, who always acknowledged her as 
regent, but who was absent, on his distant island, when these papers were 
signed. Consuls of foreign powers, commanders of ships of war and of 
merchant vessels, every body, in short, who had business to transact with 
the supreme executive of the nation, always addressed her as regent. In- 
deed, her title never was questioned, except as will soon be related. 

Unauthorized landing of the Roman Catholic missionaries. Theory of 
Roman Catholic missions. 

The king, in his letter to the American consul, given on a preceding 
page, says, " When the priests of the Romish religion landed at these 
islands, they did not first make known to us their desire to dwell on the 
islands, and also their business. They landed secretly in the country, with- 
out Kaahumanu's hearing anything about their remaining here." The 
pamphlet informs us that they went directly to Boki, "who received them 
in the most open and friendly manner," and ordered a house to be prepared 
for their reception. But it has never been asserted, so far as we can ■fQflf- 
tain, that Boki gave them leave to remain there permanently, as missiona- 



12 

ries, though statements have been made, which would naturally be under- 
stood to imply it. In fact, both Boki and the priests knew that he had no 
authority to grant such permission. Even at a much later period, the 
priests were aware that they had never received such permission from the 
government. M. Bachelot, in his letter of December 18, 1835, giving an 
account of his expulsion from the islands, says — 

"Among our Kanacs, [Sandwich Islanders]* a yes is a sacred promise ; but we 
had never obtained the formal yes, in relation to our remaining on these islands ; 
and, though several of the chiefs had a thousand times expressed great friendship 
for us, and even the young king himself had gone so far as to wish to learn the 
French language of us, the yes for our remaining had never been uttered ; and, 
moreover, it never came into my mind to ask for it, till it was too late. See what 
a person is exposed to, when unacquainted with the customs of a country." 

This is perfectly natural ; for, according to the theory of Roman Catho- 
lic missions, he was under no obligation to ask, nor had the government 
any right to refuse. That system, though carried on by fraud and vio- 
lence, has its theoretic foundation in fanaticism. It assumes, that God ap- 
points every missionary, and sends him to his station, with full authority 
to enter and commence and carry on his labors ; so that any opposition to 
him is rebellion against God. A few extracts will explain the matter. M. 
Bruguiere, titular bishop of Capse, gives the following account of his call 
to a mission in Corea : — 

" I was yet in France, and very young, when I first heard of the mission in Co- 
rea. The forlorn condition of those poor converts excited in rne a strong desire to 
visit them ; but feeling my insufficiency, and seeing no means of executing such 
a project, I contented myself with offering vows for their salvation. I cherished 
the desire in my heart for many years, regarding it rather as an inclination which 
had no practical bearing, than as the sign of a true vocation." 

Circumstances afterwards becoming more favorable, he made known 
his feelings to his ecclesiastical superiors, who were well pleased with 
the proposal. Feeling still some scruples, he wrote directly to the Pope, 
" nearly in these words :" 

"My mind remains unchanged, in respect to the mission to Corea; but there 
are sometimes desires which are not inspired by the Holy Spirit. There is a way 
which seems right to a man, but it leads to death. As you are constituted Vicar 
of Him who said, ' Go, teach all nations,' I conjure your Holiness to examine 
my vocation, and if it is approved, to give orders tor my departure. While wait- 
ing to know the mind of your Holiness, I shall strive to perforin my part in the 
mission where I am, as if 1 were always to remain in it ; and yet I shall hold my- 
self ready, as in duty bound, to leave it at any moment." See Annals of the 
Propagation of the Faith, vol. 9, pp. 196, 198. 

He afterwards received, from the proper officer of the Propaganda, or- 
ders to proceed on his mission. Being thus authorized, as he supposed, 
by an inward call from God, and an outward call from God's vicegerent, the 
Pope, he felt that he needed no permission from man. By the assistance 
of native Chinese Roman Catholics, he entered China in violation of the 
laws of the Empire, evaded the vigilance of the Mandarins, passed on to 
Tartary, and died on the frontiers of Corea. See his journal, Annals, 
vol. 9. One of his clergy, M. Maubant, similarly authorized, pursued a 
similar course. He eluded the custom house on the frontiers of Corea, by 
creeping through an aqueduct in the night, and thus made his way into 
the kingdom. Annals, vol. 11, p. 344. Another of his clergy, M. Chas- 

* In the Hawaiian language, kanaka signifies a man. It is used, however, only in 
speaking of the common people, while the chiefs are always mentioned by their 
distinctive title. Foreign sailors, not understanding the peculiarities of the lan- 
guage, use it as a national epithet. 



13 

tan, on his way to Corea along the coast, saw a Chinese junk about to sail 
for Japan. Here the Roman Catholics once had a flourishing mission; 
but being detected in a conspiracy to seize the government by military 
force, they were expelled in 1637, their followers were put to death, and 
since that time, Europeans have been rigidly excluded from the country. 
The thought struck him that a missionary well acquainted with the Chi- 
nese language, might take passage in one of these junks, " under the pre 
tence of commerce," and thus make his way into Japan. He communi 
cated his plan to M. Bruguiere, who, after consulting another bishop, gave 
him permission to make the attempt. M. Chastan replied, accepting the 
appointment, and promising to obey his bishop's "orders," by sailing in 
June of that year, 1835. M. Bruguiere wrote again, "nearly in these 
terms :" 

" I have given you no orders, but merely an invitation. I have only an indirect 
jurisdiction over Japan. It is not certain that your mission is from God. I think 
that, as the entrance into Corea presents less difficulty this year, it is more safe 
and prudent to enter Corea first, and then to pass on to Japan.. Yet I would by 
no means restrain your zeal If you have found a favorable opportunity for enter- 
ing those unhappy islands, take advantage of it." Annals, vol. 9, p. 278. 

Here, again, the same theory of missions shows itself. The Pope, by 
appointing M. Bruguiere bishop of Corea, had given him an "indirect 
jurisdiction" over the adjacent islands of Japan. He claimed a right, there- 
fore, to send missionaries into Japan, though obliged to do it secretly, 
"under pretence of commerce." M. Chastan had what seemed to be an 
inward call ; but as his vocation was not decisively confirmed by his bish- 
op, he continued his journey to Corea. 

The reader will now be able to appreciate the following passages of a 
letter written by M. Bachelot, July 9, 1831, to Mr. Hill, an Englishman, 
who urged his departure from the Sandwich Islands: — 

" There is nothing that I have more at heart, than the true happiness of this 

feople, whose amiable natural qualities have endeared them to me ; nothing that 
desire more than their progress in religion. What other motive, Sir, could have 
induced me to leave my family, my friends, every thing that was dear to me in 
France, to live the life of an exile in these islands, with no assurance that I should 
here find the necessaries of life, except the word of Him who feeds the fowls of the 
air, clothes with their brilliancy the lilhes of the field, forbids his disciples to dis- 
quiet themselves about bodily wants, and prescribes to them what they are to do, 
when they are sent forth, either immediately by himself, or by his representatives 
on earth ?" Annals, vol. 10, p 373. 

" You say, we ought not to kick against the goad. If, by that goad, Sir, you 
mean the prohibitions of men, and their opposition. I will ask you, with Peter and 
John, Consider whether it is right to obey men rather than God ; and wheiher the 
apostles, and their successors, the evangelical laborers in China and elsewhere, 
have read in the gospel, that they ought to abandon the work of God, because it 
was prohibited by the great ones of the earth, whom the low and poor have always 
preceded in their adhesion to the truth." Annals, vol. 10, p. 376. 

Here M. Bachelot evidently takes it for granted, that God, whom all are 
bound to obey, "either immediately, or by his representative," the Pope, 
whom all are equally bound to obey, has sent him to the Sandwich Islands 
as a missionary ; that "the great ones of the earth" have no right to for- 
bid his entrance, or oppose his labors ; and that, if they do, it is his duty 
to disregard their prohibitions ; and he quotes with approbation the ex- 
ample of Romish missionaries in and around China, who make their way 
into places from which the laws exclude them, by bribing the natives, 
creeping through aqueducts, and disguising themselves as merchants. 
Having such views of his own rights, it is no wonder that " it never came 
into his mind to ask" for leave to land and labor at Honolulu, "till it was 
too late." In fact, Romish missionaries seldom, if ever, ask leave to enter 

2 



14 

and remain in any country ; perhaps, because it would be an apparent con- 
cession of the right of the government to exclude them. 

It appears, then, by the testimony of the "apostolic prefect" himself, 
that permission from the government to remain there permanently as mis- 
sionaries, had never been obtained, or even asked. His testimony fully 
supports that of the king, and flatly contradicts the insinuation, that they 
had obtained leave of the government to remain there as missionaries. The 
facts are these : 

They are ordered away, but remain. 

As soon as the regent learned that they had landed, she ordered them to 
leave the islands in the vessel that brought them. The king, in his letter 
to William IV., before mentioned, says that Boki carried the order. Boki 
also told an American merchant there, a man of unquestionable veracity, 
now residing near Boston, that he thought, as the other chiefs did, that 
these priests would do harm rather than good, and ought to leave the 
islands; though, as strangers, he wished to treat them kindly while they 
remained. The French captain, who brought the priests, told the same 
gentleman, that the government had ordered him to take them away ; but 
added, with an oath, — " I have had trouble enough with them, and they 
shall not go on board my ship again." 

In the pamphlet, the nature of some of the captain's "trouble" is care- 
fully covered up in these words : — " Capt. Plassad, finding himself disap- 
pointed in the principal object of his voyage, after completing his wood and 
water, sailed from Oahu, leaving his passengers to provide for themselves, 
without any means except their own exertions." The " principal object of 
his voyage" was to deliver the goods that Rives had bought, and get his 
pay for them and for bringing the priests. He could find neither Rives nor 
any of his boasted wealth, nor anybody that wanted his goods, or would 
pay for the passage of the Romish missionaries. He therefore took advan- 
tage of the position of his vessel, beyond the range of the guns of the fort, 
as he had avowed his intention of doing, sailed from the islands and left 
them; and, as the government was unwilling to throw them into the ocean, 
there was no way but to suffer them to remain on land till they could be 
sent away in some other vessel. Rives, we believe, has not shown himself 
at the islands since. Thus the Romish priests were landed in violation of 
the law of the country, which requires all foreigners to obtain permission 
before landing, and staid there and commenced their labors in disregard of 
an express order from its supreme executive. Whatever we may think of 
such laws and orders, a knowledge of this fact is necessary, if we would 
understand the feelings and motives of the government in their subsequent 
transactions. 

Their religion examined by the chiefs, and condemned. 

The priests celebrated their first mass, it is said, July 14, 1827, and 
opened a chapel which they had built, about the first of January, 1828. It 
was soon reported, by some who had witnessed their services, that they 
worshipped images. The report excited no little astonishment and curi- 
osity, and the young king went once to the chapel, to see for himself 
whether it was true. He gives an account of his visit, in his letter to 
William IV. He found the report correct, and says that he could scarce 
avoid laughing at the absurdity of worshipping a lifeless stock. Some of 
the chiefs made a business of investigating the matter ; and, having become 
acquainted with the popish doctrine of veneration for the relics of saints, 
and their regulations concerning fasts, they reported that "this new religion 
was all about worshipping images and dead men's bones, and tabus on 
meat, and was just like the old religion of the islands." Their old religion, 



15 

they knew, was bad in its nature, and in its whole tendency. It wrought 
" only evil, and that continually," while in power ; and since its suppression, 
its partizans had twice involved the nation in civil war. They did not 
wish to have such a religion taught. Several captains of English vessels 
told them, that Romish priests had often excited wars in Europe, on 
account of religion ; and one of them told how some of his own ancestors 
had "died in that slaughter." They predicted, that if these priests were 
allowed to remain, they would involve the islands in war, and advised the 
chiefs to send them away. The disregard of law and authority which the 
priests had shown, by their manner of coming and remaining, was well 
adapted to strengthen these impressions on the minds of the chiefs. All 
that they could remember or learn concerning worshippers of images and 
dead men's bones, and keepers of tabus, in any country or age of the world, 
seemed to indicate that these men would make trouble. Affairs were 
brought to a crisis by another train of causes, which had been for some 
years growing towards maturity. 

Opposition to moral improvement. Arrival of the Vincennes. 
We have already stated, that when the American missionaries first 
arrived, some of the resident foreigners attempted to prevent their obtaining 
permission to land, and that Rives, during the first year of their residence 
there, threatened them with expulsion at its close. The fears of that party 
were realized. Schools were established throughout the islands, and 
thousands learned to read and write. The gospel was preached, and parts 
of the Bible, as fast as they could be translated, were printed and put in 
circulation. Churches were organized, and Christian ordinances adminis- 
tered. The chiefs and people demanded a code of written laws ; but the 
party of which we have spoken opposed its formation, and riotously broke 
up one grand council of the nation which had been convened for that 
purpose. Proclamations, however, had been issued, forbidding women to 
frequent foreign vessels in the ports, and some other vices. In opposition 
to these orders, mobs were raised, the lives of some of the missionaries and 
principal chiefs were threatened, and their houses attacked and broken 
open, with the evident intention of putting them to death. The proof of 
some of these atrocities is on record in the office of the Secretary of the 
Navy, at Washington, and has been the basis of official action by our 
government. In 1820, such a mob attacked the house of the regent Ka- 
laimoku, and broke in his windows, but were driven thence by the natives; 
and a few minutes after, another mob attacked the house of Mr. Bingham. 
In 1827, an English whale ship, with similar motives, fired upon the house 
of Mr. Richards, at Lahaina. At last, October 7, 1829, the king issued a 
proclamation, in his own name and that of the regent and principal chiefs, 
declaring that the laws of his country forbade murder, theft, licentiousness, 
retailing ardent spirits, Sabbath-breaking, and gambling ; and that these 
laws were in force against foreigners residing in his kingdom, as well as 
his own subjects. This was done in the midst of violent opposition from 
the party of which we have spoken. It was currently reported and gener- 
ally believed that their most prominent leader boasted that he had 500 men 
at his command, and that he had threatened to depose the regent, seize the 
persons of the king and his sister, take possession of the forts, and change 
the governors of the several islands. The insolence of the party was tem- 
porarily checked, and not improbably an outbreak prevented, by the arrival 
of the United States' sloop of war Vincennes, Capt. Finch, on the 14th, 
which has been already mentioned. Capt. Finch brought a letter to the 
king, written by the Secretary of the Navy by order of the President. The 
letter fortunately contained the following passage: — 

" The President also anxiously hopes that peace and kindness and justice will 
prevail between your people and" those citizens of the United States who visit your 



16 

islands, and that the regulations of your government will be such as to enforce 
them upon all. Our citizens, who violate your laws, or interfere with your regula- 
tions, violate at the same time their duty to their own government and country, 
and merit censure and punishment." 

This silenced, for a time at least, the pretence that the Sandwich Islands' 
government had no right to make laws, or to punish resident foreigners for 
their crimes. And be it remembered, that Kaahumanu was distinctly ac- 
knowledged as regent by the President of the United States, who sent her 
a present in that capacity, and by Capt. Finch and the American consul in 
all their official intercourse with the government. 

Boki's Conspiracy. — Opposition to schools. — Edict againt Romish 

worship. 

The party, however, was not extinct. It had gained complete ascendancy 
over the hitherto vacillating Boki, who was an easy-tempered, pliable man, 
and perfectly manageable by his bottle companions when intoxicated. We 
think there can be no doubt, that they at last persuaded hirn to aim at the 
regency. It is asserted by the king, in his letter to William IV., that he 
threatened the life of Kaahumanu ; and there is other evidence that he 
meditated revolution and bloodshed. He appears to have become the 
steady friend of the Romish priests; and the whole party was clamorous in 
their favor. The priests were thus found to be identified with the most 
dangerous enemies of the government. 

It was found, too, that natives who became followers of the priests, could 
not be educated. The government was earnestly engaged in teaching all 
the people to read and write; but the followers of the priests could not be 
induced to receive instruction. M. Bachelot, in some of his letters pub- 
lished in the " Annals," before quoted, boasts of their constancy in refusing 
to attend schools, or to be present at Protestant worship, after he told them 
it was a sin to be present there in body, even if their hearts did not join in 
the services. For such reasons the natives were forbidden to attend 
Roman Catholic worship. The order was issued by Boki, at the command 
of the regent. 

In 1829, Boki sailed, with two vessels, on a wild expedition after sandal 
wood, which, he had been told, might be procured in great abundance on a 
newly discovered island, — probably Erromanga, where the celebrated Eng- 
lish missionary, Williams, was lately killed and eaten by the barbarous 
inhabitants. The vessels lost sight of each other, and nothing further has 
ever been heard of that on board of which Boki sailed. He left the 
government of Oahu in the hands of Liliha, his wife. According to M. 
Bachelot, Kaikioewa, governor of Kauai, succeeded him as tutor to the 
king. 

Conspiracy suppressed by Knakini. 

During a great part of the year 1830, the king and regent were at La- 
haina, and at other places on Maui and Hawaii. During their absence, 
the conspiracy was fast ripening at Honolulu, under the administration of 
Liliha. The laws were disregarded, more than twenty tippling shops were 
opened, gaming was openly practised, and all restraint on vice seemed to 
be at an end. Military preparations were made, for which no object was 
avowed, and no lawful object could be imagined, and so extensive that the 
report of them caused alarm in all the islands of the group. The regent, 
finding that the time had come to act vigorously, ordered her brother, 
Kuakini, governor of Hawaii, to repair to Oahu, as governor of that island, 
and to suppress the insurrection. The Romish priests assert that he landed 
troops at the same moment, and unexpectedly, on several parts of the 
island, — which is very probable. He established an armed police at Hono- 
lulu, strong enough to enforce obedience, suppressed the grog shops and 



17 

gaming houses, and re-established the reign of law. Various attemps were 
made to evade the laws. Some professed to sell coffee and give away rum ; 
but Kuakini was not to be trifled with in any such way. Others begged 
to be allowed to sell to foreigners only. His reply was, "To horses, cattle 
and hogs, you may sell rum ; but to real men you must not on these shores." 

The Priests ordered away. Their duplicity. 

Kuakini's next important movement was to send away the Romish 
priests, who taught the people to " worship images and dead men's bones," 
and to observe "tabus on meat," aud whose partizans had just planned and 
made formidable preparations for commencing the third civil war since the 
abolition of such worship in 1819. 

M. Bachelot states that the royal order for their departure was delivered 
to him in writing, by Kaikioewa, at a council of the chiefs in April, 1831. 
The author of the pamphlet says : — 

4< Application was then made by Messrs. Bachelot and Short, to the masters of 
different vessels, to provide them with a passage, but without effect; the authorities 
of the island finally prevailed on the comanmder of a Prussian ship to consent to 
take them to China for $5,000 dollars; that sum, of course, the priests could not nor 
would not pay, and consequently they were permitted to remain." 

The account which the apostolic prefect sent to France, and his em- 
ployers published for the edification of the faithful throughout Europe, 
reads thus : — 

" That we might appear to yield in some degree to the demands of the chiefs, 
and to avoid irritating them, we took care, when any vessel was about to depart, to 
request, in writing, of the captain, a gratuitous passage. We did this in respect to 
several ; and as they knew our intentions, they answered us, also in writing, and 
absolutely refused to grant our request; for no captain was willing to engage in 
executing the sentence pronounced against us. 

" A short time aliervvards, a Prussian vessel arrived, the captain of which brought 
presents from the king of Prussia to the young king of the Sandwich Islands. The 
arrival of this vessel furnished an occasion for a new attempt to compel us to leave 
the archipelago. The governor of Hawaii re-appeared. 4 Here,' said he to me, 

* is a ship from near your own country. It will conduct you to your own land.' 

* What you say is reasonable,' I replied, ' but who will pay my passage ? I came 
here with nothing but my body and the word of God ; my heart has not been upon 
the things of this world ; I have amassed no money.' ' Perhaps he will take yon 
for nothing.' ' It is possible ; but ask him yourself, and we shall see.' Kuakini 
retired with this answer. The captain came to see us ; I explained to him our 
situation ; he obligingly offered to receive us on board of his vessel, if we wished 
to depart; but if not, he told us to make an application to him in writing, and to 
dictate the answer which we wished him to make ; which was done. The gover- 
nor of Hawaii also went to see him, and urged him to take charge of us. The 
Prussian captain answered him that he would do it with pleasure, but that before 
M. Patrick and I could come on board, he must be paid five thousand dollars, 
(more than twenty-five thousand francs.) The poor governor had a great desire to 
rid himself of us, but he was still more anxious to keep his money. He was there- 
fore obliged to abandon his project." Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, vol. 
10, p. 370. 

The Priests sent to California. A Misrepresentation exposed. 

Finding that there was no other way to get the priests out of the country, 
the government fitted out a vessel of its own, put them on board about the 
last of December, and sent them to California. Of their arrival, the author 
of the pamphlet says and quotes as follows: — 

" On the afternoon of the 28th of January, 1832, the Waverly arrived at St. 
Pedro, on the coast of California, and the next morning, the prisoners were landed 
•on a barren strand, with two bottles of water and one biscuit, and theie left on the 
very beach, without even a tree or shrub to shelter them from the weather, exposed 



18 

to the fury of the wild beasts, which were heard howling in every direction, and for 
aught their merciless jailor could know, perhaps perish before morning. No habi- 
tation of man was neaier to them than forty miles, save a small hut, at the distance 
of two leagues. On the beach, then, with the wild surf breaking beneath their very 
feet, they passed a sleepless night, with the canopy of heaven to cover them, and 
the arm of Omnipotence to shield. Forty-eight hours from the time of their dis- 
embarkation, they were welcomed at the mission of St. Gabiiel, where they re- 
ceived that kindness and sympathy from their brethren of the cross, which in this 
land had been denied them by the professed followers of the humble Jesus.' " 

Though it seems a pity to mar this beautiful specimen of the pathetic, 
we must here give a few additional facts, from JVI. Bachelot's letter, pub- 
lished in the Annals, vol. x. p. 362. He writes; — 

"The American consul* had informed the governor-general of California of the 
efforts which were made to expel us from the Sandwich archipelago, and had asked 
him if he would receive us, if we should be sent to his territory. The governor 
had answered, that we should not only be well received, but very useful. The 
prefect of the missions and another Franciscan father had also written to us, and 
besought us not to seek for any other asylum. They informed us of their advanced 
age, their infirmities, their small number, and their consequent need of us." 

M. Bachelot also informs us, that before they were landed at St. Pedro, 
the captain sent information of their arrival to a farmer in the neighborhood, 
who knew who they were, and had transmitted supplies to them while they 
were at Honolulu. The farmer first visited them on board, and then sent 
a young man to take care of their baggage. The young man supplied them 
with provisions, and slept with them by the side of an uninhabited hut at 
night. They had been told that the country abounded with bears, and 
were very much afraid of an attack from them; but the only "wild beasts" 
which they actually saw, were grey squirrels. The pamphlet says that the 
wild beasts "were heard howling in every direction ;" but M. Bachelot 
says nothing of the kind. 

The Reason for their Expulsion. 

The thought that the Romish priests were sent away for a real or sup- 
posed connection with a treasonable conspiracy against the government, 
may be new to many of our readers; but it is not new at the Sandwich 
Islands. As this is a very important point, we must consider the evidence 
a little more minutely. The pamphlet, says: — 

" It was feared, by the chiefs and their advisers, that the mere crime of being 
Catholics would not, in the eyes of the world, be sufficient cause for banishing the 
priests ; and it was therefore determined to accuse them of sedition, of turning 
away the people to stand opposed to the chiefs." 

In confirmation, its author quotes the proclamation of Kaahumanu, 
issued December 7, 1831, — about three weeks before they were put on 
board the Waverly. 

" This is our reason for sending away the Frenchmen. In the first place, the 
chiefs never assented to their dwelling at Oahu ; and when they turned away some 
of our people to stand opposed to us, then we said to them, return to the country 
whence ye came." 

The writer correctly understands this standing opposed to the chiefs, not 
of a mere difference of religious belief and practice, but of a seditious op- 
position to the government. The meaning is, that the priests "turned 
away" some of the people from their duty to the regent and great body of 
the chiefs, and induced them to join the conspiracy against the government, 
for which Liliha had made military preparations, and which Knakini had 
suppressed. This was the reason assigned by the regent for their banish- 

* The reputed author of the pamphlet was then American consul. 






19 

ttient, before it took place. The same writer also informs us, that M« 
Bachelot, after his return from California in 1837, " was directed to sign a 
document, (handed him,) acknowledging that himself and Mr. Short had 
been banished before, for exciting rebellion in the country." The govern- 
ment, then, persevered in its charge against them. The same reason for 
their banishment was assigned by the king, in his "Ordinance rejecting 
the Catholic Religion," issued at Lahaina, December 18, 1837. 

We have not undertaken, nor can we reasonably be required, to show 
that the Romish priests were guilty. It is enough, for the purposes of our 
argument, that the government believed them guilty, and banished them for 
that reason. This we have shown ; and we have shown how the belief of 
their guilt very naturally arose in the minds of the king, the regent, and 
the chiefs. However, as it is very easily done, we will prove, beyond all 
reasonable doubt, that the priests were either members of the conspiracy, 
or dupes and tools of the conspirators. We quote from the Annals of the 
Propagation of the Faith, vol. vi., p. 94 and onward. 

" Kaahumanu had always been ambitious to keep all the authority in her own 
hands; but her power was counterpoised by Boki, regent of the realm and governor 
of the young king. Boki was fond of foreigners, and showed himself iavorable 
enough to the missionaries; though he thought himself obliged to use management 
with the old queen. He had a certain number of chiefs on his side. Several 
Americans and some Englishmen were also on his side, because they were with 
reason suspicious of Kaahumanu. The two consuls, English and American, were 
particululy attached to him." 

We may safely assume, that this information was sent to France by the 
Messrs. Bachelot and Short. From them the French editor learned that 
Boki, the king's steward, was regent, and Kaahumanu an ambitious old 
woman, scheming to usurp the supreme authority. We learn, too, that 
Boki had a party on his side, against the " old queen ;" and finally we learn 
that Mr. Charlton, the British Consul, and Mr. Jones, the xAmerican Consul, 
were zealous members of that party. — After mentioning the death of Boki 
and some other events, the editor of the Annals proceeds: — 

" Such was the state of things at the close of 1829. The old Kaahumanu never 
forgot her ambitious projects. Shortly after Roki's departure, she attempted to dis- 
place all his partizans, and deprive them of the dignities which Boki had conferred 
on them They refused compliance, protesting that they would not resign the 
power intrusted to them, except to him from whom they had received it. More- 
over, the wife of Boki still held the title of regent and governess of Oahu." 

The faction, it seems, was determined to have a regent of its own selec- 
tion, even after Boki's death. This ** wife of Boki" was Liliha, whose 
preparations for war brought Kuakini to Oahu. On what ground they 
claimed the regency for her, does not appear. They pretended that Boki 
must be the regent, because he was the king's " governor;" but that office, 
M. Bachelot informs us, was now held by Kaikioewa. 

More might be quoted from the Annals to the same purpose ; but this is 
enough. The pamphlet before us speaks the language of the party. 
Speaking of the first arrival of the priests and the order for their departure 
in the vessel that brought them, it says : — 

** It will be understood that, at this period, Boki was the sole guardian of the king, 
(then a minor,) his brother Kalainioku being Head, and as such had an undoubted 
right and power to grant the catholic missionaries liberty to remain and pursue the 
avocations of their calling. — If such an order was ever given, it must have emana- 
ted from Kaahumanu, one ol the widows of Kmnehameha I.; an old woman com- 
pletely under the influence of the protestant missionaries, who, properly speaking, 
had no legal right to dictation, but under the false idea that 'might makes right,' 
had arrogantly assumed to herself the power solrly to regulate and control the pub- 
lic and private affairs of the whole nation. Capt. Plassad, veiy properly, if he ever 
received an order from that source to surh effect, gave no heed to it, knowing, as 
he did, that he had been fully authorized by the only legal authority to disembark 



20 

his passengers and their effects. That Boki was the legal and only representative 
of the king, during his minority, the most satisfactory and incontrovertible proofs 
are extant; indeed, we have never for a moment heard it questioned, except by the 
missionaries, who made every exertion to destroy, if possible, the power and influ- 
ence of that noble minded chief, whose popularity they feared, and whose liberal 
principles they sought by every stratagem to eradicate." 

" Never heard it questioned !" The reputed author of this pamphlet, on 
the 14th of October, 1829, conducted Capt. Finch, of the Vincennes, to the 
palace, and introduced hirn to the king, and to Kaahumanu, who was sit- 
ting on a sofa at the king's right hand, as regent ; and during that interview 
he saw a silver vase, inscribed with the arms of the United States, and her 
name, brought forward as a present from our government to the regent; 
and as United States' Consul, he habitually transacted business with her as 
regent, for years. If the work be really his, it betrays a recklessness, not 
only of truth, but of the danger of exposure, which is truly astonishing. 

The proof, then, is conclusive, that there was at Honolulu, at the timei 
under consideration, a seditious conspiracy against the government ; that 
the Romish priests, either as dupes or otherwise, lent their influence for its 
promotion ; and that the part which they acted in this conspiracy was the 
real cause of their banishment. 

But let us take another view of the subject. It is not only conceded, but 
asserted, by all parties, that the supreme power was, by some means, whether 
right or wrong, in the hands of Kaahumanu. Now, what if Boki had a 
right to the regency, and Kaahumanu and her party, which comprised all 
the royal family, all the chiefs of the first rank, and all the governors of the 
several islands except Boki, were mere usurpers ? Why, just this will fol- 
low :— The Romish priests, on their arrival, found the government of the 
kingdom in the wrong hands, and engaged in revolutionary projects and 
movements, for the purpose of placing it where it should be ; the usurping 
party proved the strongest, the insurrection was quelled, and the priests, as 
its abettors, were sent to California. 

And here, again, we might close; having shown the true cause of the 
expulsion of the Romish priests, and thus removed all temptation for sus- 
pecting, in the absence of proof, and against the most conclusive proof, that 
it must have been the work of the American missionaries. But, for the 
sake of giving completeness to the history, it may be well to notice a few 
things more. 

Persecution of Native Romanists. Its discontinuance. 

When the Sandwich Islands government learned that the religion of 
Rome resembled their old idolatry in its worship of images and dead men's 
bones, and its tabus on meat, they at once suspected that it would prove, 
like their old idolatry, a bloody and seditious religion. By conversation 
with Europeans, as already shown, this suspicion was confirmed. The 
conduct of the priests, in landing as they did, and after they had landed, 
seemed to be conclusive proof of it. They therefore resolved to prevent its 
extension among their own people ; and for this purpose, proceeded to in- 
flict punishment on some, for the mere fact of adhering to that religion. 
Concerning the number and severity of such punishments, statements differ 
widely. Nobody, however, in any part of the Christian world, justifies 
them. The American missionaries opposed them, by remonstrance and 
advice, the only proper means for them to use, from the beginning, and 
continued their opposition till an order was issued for their discontinuance, 
on the 17th of June, 1839, which was twenty-two days before the arrival of 
Capt. Laplace. This their early and persevering opposition is proved, not 
only by their own assertions, but by the king's letter to Mr. Brinsmade, the 
American Consul. A single slander, on this point, remains to be exposed. 






21 

The author of the pamphlet, speaking of certain women who were confined 
to the fort on the 24th of June, says : — 

" One of the foreign gentlemen, when he entered the fort and beheld the distres- 
sing situation of the wretched females, influenced by motives of humanity, hastened 
to bring, if possible, the Rev. Mr. Bingham to the scene of cruelty, thinking that 
he might possess power sufficient to liberate the sufferers. He met the Reverend 
gentleman, and entreated him, for the sake of humanity, to come with him to the 
place of persecution. What was his reply? He knew that it must be for some 
other cause that the females were punished, and he did not wish to interfere with 
the laws of the land. Saying this, he drove off, (for he was in a car,) as uncon- 
cerned as if nothing had occurred." 

Mr. Bingham very naturally believed that the punishment was inflicted 
for some other cause, as he knew what orders had been issued a week be- 
fore, and as the chiefs had promised him that no more punishments for re- 
ligion should be inflicted. But whither did he drive, in his car ? Directly 
to Kekuanaoa, to tell him what he had heard, and if it should be necessary, 
to urge the instant liberation of the women ; which was done; "for their 
confinement was not by order of the chiefs." The case is correctly stated 
in the king's letter to the American Consul. And be it remembered, that 
letter was before the author of the pamphlet, while inditing his calumnies. 
It is contained in a pamphlet, to which his was intended as a reply ; and 
though he carefully avoids mentioning even the existence of that letter, he 
makes extracts from it, and comments upon them. It cannot he supposed, 
therefore, that this misrepresentation was the result of ignorance. 

Much has been said of the severity of these punishments, as if that was 
the fault of the missionaries ; but how can it be charged to them, when 
they were doing their best to prevent such punishments altogether? And 
it should be remembered, that but for the humanizing influence which the 
mission had exerted, the offenders, instead of being imprisoned or sen- 
tenced to hard labor, would have been made food for sharks, or perhaps 
for men. 

Roman Catholic Idolatry. 

One more topic, and we have done. The missionaries are accused of 
teaching, that the Roman Catholic use of images is idolatry. It will be 
recollected, that when Mr. Bingham first remonstrated with Kaahumanu 
against the punishment of the Roman Catholics, he told her, " You have 
no law that will apply ;" and that she answered, " The law respecting idol- 
atry ; for their worship is like that which we have forsaken." She referred 
to the law of November, 1819, by which idolatry was abolished before the 
missionaries arrived, and which therefore could not have been procured by 
their influence. That law was not " in favor of the Christian faith," as has 
been said, but simply against idolatry, as a pernicious system. The thought 
of applying it to proselytes of the Romish priests, originated with Kaahu- 
manu, or some of her native advisers, and was new to Mr. Bingham when 
she first advanced it. However, let us hear this charge, according to its 
latest and most plausible statement, by a correspondent of one of the daily 
papers in Boston : — 

" But for the sake of argument, let us admit, for the moment, that our missiona- 
ries did not, directly and explicitly, influence and advise the native authorities to 
banish the foreign Catholics, to prohibit their landing and residence, and to perse- 
cute, as was most cruelly done, the native Catholics; — yet.it is evident they did the 
same, or something equivalent to it, indirectly. A law had been made by which 
the old religion was abolished, in favor vf the Christian faith. That religion was 
idolatrous ; and this law, to suppress it, prohibited idolatry, meaning thereby the 
gross idolatry of that pagan religion. Now the American missionaries were shrewd 
enough to perceive, that by making the native authorities believe that the Catho- 
lics were idolaters, they should bring this law to bear against them, pievent the 



22 

toleration of their faith, and procure their extermination. They set themselves o 
work, therefore, in preaching and in conversation, to represent the French priests 
and their adherents to be idolaters. They induced the king to attend their chapel, 
who, seeing the pictures and crucifixes around the altar, and the reverence paid to 
them, concluded, at once, as he had been previously told, that worship was ren- 
dered them as gods, a3 idols, as material, inanimate objects, and not as represen- 
tations and memorials of the spiritual Deity, or incarnate God, of all Christians, 
that of the Protestants as well as the Catholics. He thus became deceived, and 
was led to believe that what the missionaries had told him was true. They did not 
undeceive him, or explain the difference between the Christian worship of 
Catholics and the direct pagan worship of idols of wood and stone. Was this hon- 
est.' 1 Was this liberal ? Was this justifiable by the laws and precepts of Christi- 
anity, in which there is no guile ?" 

Passing by several errors in matters of fact, which the attentive reader 
will be able to correct for himself, let us examine the substance of this ar- 
gument. 

All adult Sandwich Islanders had been idolaters themselves, from their 
infancy, almost to the time under consideration. All had often taken part 
in idolatrous worship, and some of them had been priests. They were 
therefore peculiarly competent to judge, whether any form of worship, 
practised before their eyes, was idolatrous. Their judgment, after a care- 
ful examination by some of the most intelligent among them, was, that the 
worship performed by the Romish priests was of the same nature as the 
old idolatry of the Islands. They found no essential difference ; the priests, 
it seems, were unable to show them any; and the American missionaries 
are blamed for not lending their aid, and making the distinction intelligi- 
ble. They are even accused of helping on the deception, by teaching that 
the Romish use of images is idolatrous. Instead of this, we are told, they 
should have taught the natives that the Romanists worship images, not 
" as gods, as idols, as material, inanimate objects," but " as representations 
and memorials of the spiritual Deity, or incarnate God." 

Suppose they had undertaken to teach the natives thus ; what would 
have been the consequence? The natives would have answered : — " That 
is just as we used to worship our idols, in the time of dark hearts. We 
never worshipped them ' as material, inanimate objects,' but ' as represen- 
tations and memorials of the spiritual Deity,' whose name they bore. We 
never supposed that the wooden Lono, which we gave to you, and which 
you sent home to America as a curiosity, used to bear the prayers of the 
great Kamehameha with its wooden ears, determine, without brains or 
soul, to grant his request, and walk off with its wooden body to attend 
him on his campaigns. We believed that while this wooden Lono re- 
mained in the malae where it was kept, the invisible Lono, which it repre- 
sented, went with the conquering monarch to his wars, and subdued his 
enemies before him." Such would have been their reply. It would have 
been true, to the letter, and would have been an unanswerable confutation 
of all that could be said on the other side. 

The fact is, no nation or class of men ever practised such idolatry as the 
Roman Catholics and their apologists describe. The nearest approach to it 
on record is the idolatry of the mass, in which they worship a piece of bread. 
But even this is not worshipped as bread, but as " the body and blood, soul 
and divinity," of the Son of God, into which it is supposed to have been tran- 
substantiated. Take, as sufficient on this point, the testimony of the cele- 
brated Rabbi Maimonides. "You know, that whosoever committeth idolatry, 
he doth it not as supposing that there is no other god besides that which 
he worshippeth ; for it never came into the minds of any idolaters, nor 
ever will, that that statue which is made by them of metal, or stone, or 
wood, is that very God who created heaven and earth ; but they worship 
those statues and images only as the representation of something which 
is a mediator between God and them." How could the Roman Catholic 



23 

use of images, as understood by the more intelligent part of that church, 
be more accurately described ? 

While Moses was on Mount Sinai, Aaron, at the request of the people, 
made a golden calf; and the people said of it, " These be thy gods, O 
Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt ;" and they built an 
altar before it, on which they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 
This was a notable instance of idolatry. But did the Israelites believe 
that the calf which they saw Aaron make then, was indeed the Deity that 
had brought them up out of Egypt several weeks before ? Or did they 
worship it as merely "the representation and memorial of the spiritual 
Deity," that had brought them out of Egypt? Did the Athenians believe 
that the ivory statue of Jupiter, which, as they well knew, Phidias made at 
Athens, in their own day, was the very Jupiter who was born some ages 
before in Crete, and who lived on "high Olympus" with Juno and the 
other gods; or did they worship it as a "representation and memorial" of 
him ? Did the ancient Romans suppose that the statue of Jupiter Stator, 
which they made after a battle, to commemorate a victory, was the very 
Jupiter who had given them that victory, or only a "representation and 
memorial" of him ? And to close with another instance from Scripture, 
— when " Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin," set up a 
golden calf at Bethel and another at Dan, he said of each of them, " Be- 
hold thy God, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." 
Did he mean, or did any Israelite whom he thus made to sin, believe, that 
each of these calves was the very God who had rescued the nation from 
bondage five centuries before he made it ? No. Those calves were wor- 
shipped, as idolaters in general have always worshipped images, and as 
Roman Catholics in particular profess to worship theirs, — " as representa- 
tions and memorials" of an invisible Deity. 

If, then, the American missionaries taught that the Roman Catholic use 
of images is idolatry, they only taught the truth : a truth which, if the na- 
tives had been in any danger of not seeing it, they would have been inexcusa- 
ble for not teaching. They only taught what all Protestants have believed, 
ever since Luther's time, and what is embodied in the creed, probably, of 
every Protestant church in Europe. If they had taught the contrary, they 
would not only have violated their duty, but labored in vain ; for the na- 
tives would have known that they were teaching falsehood. 

It is very possible, that the All-wise Disposer of events has sent Roman- 
ism to the Sandwich Islands, for the very purpose of exposing its idola- 
trous character. After the ancient heathenism had gone down in Europe, 
and men had forgotten what it was, the worship of images was introduced, 
and men were persuaded that idolatry was not that, but something else. 
Protestanism arose, and declared that image worship is idolatry ; but 
Jesuitism has continued to argue, that there is a distinction between them. 
Now, Romish image worship is carried into the presence of men who have 
been idolaters, and is submitted to their inspection. They examine it, and 
pronounce it idolatry ; just such, in its nature, as they practised in the days 
of their darkness. They are the most competent judges of that question 
in the world ; and we may hope that the world will yet feel and ac- 
knowledge the weight of their testimony. 



24 



[The following comparison between Hindooism and the Roman Catholic 
doctrines and ceremonies, extracted from the Memoir of Mrs. Harriet 
L. Wijsslow, of the Ceylon Mission, will add to the force of the conclud- 
ing remarks in the foregoing article.] 

" Their use of images is similar to that of the heathen ; and the same reasons 
are urged for it; that they represent beings who ought to be reverenced, and that 
it is necessary for the people, generally, to have some object to worship which may 
address itself to their senses. 

" Placing lights before ihese images, or idols, is a practice alike of the Papists 
and Pagans. To keep a light burning in a temple is a great act of merit among 
the Hindoos. 

" The offering of incense and the sprinkling with holy water are the same in 
Catholic churches and heathen temples. 

" The church festivals, when the images and the host are carried about in pro- 
cession, are similar to the idol feasts, when the idols are drawn on cars round the 
temple yards. 

" The use of the rosary by the Romanists is the same with that of the suppah' 
tnalah, or prayer garland of the Hindoos; and the pater-nosters and ave-marias 
of the former are recited and reiterated in the same manner as the mantras of the 
latter, an account being kept of the number of repetitions by means of the beads. 

" The doctrine of penance, insisted on so much in the papal church, is altogether 
a heathen doctrine, and also that of purgatory, and the necessity of ceremonies 
for the souls of the dead ; all which are seen among the Hindoos. 

" The fast-days and feast-days, the ringing of bells, their idolatrous reverence 
for the priests, who are the keepers of their disciples' consciences, the repetition 
of prayers in a dead language — in the Latin by one and in Sanscrit by the other — 
and all the attention to outward show and parade, are the same among Roman and 
heathen idolaters. The exposing of this relationship between the two forms of 
superstition caused no small stir among the Roman priests, and induced them to 
prohibit or modify some of their public processions which were too obviously of 
heathen origin." 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



028 158 494 









